Bobby Hutcherson, one of the most acclaimed jazz vibraphonists of all times has died. He was 75.
Hutcherson died Monday at his family home in Montara, a small seaside community south of San Francisco. The cause was complications related to emphysema, longtime family friend Marshall Lamm said.
Hutcherson played with a litany of jazz greats as both bandleader and sideman during a career spanning more than 50 years, including Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins and childhood friend Dexter Gordon.
When , the last of his more than 40 albums, was released in 2014, magazine declared it “a worthy addition to an era-defining discography.”
Robert Hutcherson was born Jan. 17, 1941, in Los Angeles and raised in the nearby suburb of Pasadena.
He studied piano as a child but switched to vibraphone after hearing Milt Jackson play the instrument on a recording of Thelonious Monk's .
He was one of the first vibraphonists to use four mallets. He could fill the role of a pianist in terms of melody and harmony and also play percussively with a driving rhythmic attack.
Hutcherson is survived by his wife, Rosemary, and sons Teddy and Barry, the latter a jazz drummer.